Christmas

Christmas was pretty ok this year.  Everyone seems to have mellowed out a little bit, and no one cried, at least to my knowledge.  There also wasn't a single mention of bestiality!  

My Christmas gifts consisted of a tote bag that says "shoplifter," a parrot key chain that says very profane things when you press a button such as "Hey you, go fuck yourself", and a mug that says "Fuck off. I'm reading the Onion."  My mother is maturing with age... or something.

My sister also graced me with some Serbian chap stick that was incorrectly called "labia balm."

It's nice to be home.  We had a nice lunch?, worked on a very difficult puzzle, and later my dad and I saw Valkyrie.  That movie probably would have been much better if Tom Cruise wasn't in it.  

gingerbread!

Yesterday, Erin and I decorated a gingerbread house.  

The engineer hard at work.  So focused on the task at hand.

But now he ditched me, and I am in Seattle until Tuesday.  I stayed a little longer because this was supposed to be a big training week, but it snowed, and the roads are SO icy, and I am stuck inside.  So much for those four 3 hour rides.  It's a good test for my anti-lock brakes, though.  I would also not advise anyone to drive on ice with a donut tire.  It doesn't work well.  My tire is finally fixed, though.

We also resolved the trainer issue.  The people below us were concerned that something was broken.  It also appears that one of our trainers is dying, as the flywheel is loose so it vibrates a lot.  Now it makes this loud knocking sound every few seconds.

Uh oh

So, it is cold, snowing, and they do not use salt on the roads.  With this combination, I can't safely ride outside.

I was pedaling away on the trainer today while watching 300.  It was mostly high endurance/low tempo with some 15 second jumps mixed in.  I started at about 11 am and finished at 12:45.  

At about 12:40, I hear a knock on my door.  I turned down the volume and tried to ignore it.

The knock continued.  It was my landlord.  "Whatever that thing is that makes the apartments above and below vibrate needs to stop."

Crap.  Now what?  I'm probably going to be stuck inside all week thanks to this abnormal weather.  I will save the jumps for outside and see if that helps.

No Scrunchies?!?

Today, I had a very odd experience at the "premier" health club in the Seattle area.

I had to watch a video about employee requirements.  Shoes had to be 80% white. Socks must be white and showing but not higher than the ankle.  No hair clips longer than 4 inches, no headbands wider than 1 inch, no scrunchies?.  It went on and on.    

I understand professionalism, but there is a line between that and breeding a bunch of robots.

Then I got a tour, where I learned about the restaurant, the auto detailing, the laundry, and the 4 swimming pools.   They also call their employees the "cast" because they put on a great show for the clients.

I explained very clearly on my application that I can't work many weekends.  This is something that I will not compromise because if I cannot race my bike, there is no point in existing.  Period.  The first thing they asked was about the weekends, and I stood my ground because, really, I can't work any during the summer.  

That was it.  No more interview.  Why would they even bring me in for an interview if weekends are so important?  Who wants to go to the gym on the weekend anyway?  Weekends are for playing outside.

The Cycling Gods Are Mad at Me

I drove to the start of my ride today (which would have been a 35 minute ride each way) because it was cold outside. 

 On the way home, I got a flat car tire.  My tire was rusted onto the axel, and the bolts were so tight I couldn't get them off with all the force I had.  

Luckily someone helped me!  

I am not used to this cold weather business.  On another note, I made it to the final stage of one hiring process.  It's narrowed down to 3 from 39 applicants.  This job would be nice in some ways, but not in others.  I'd work MWF mornings from 6-12 and then Tu/Th evenings.  It's kind of far, so I would have to wake up pretty early, but it's in a good location to start rides after I work.  It would also be nice to have the mornings on some days and the afternoons on others.  I get paid for the 2nd interview at least!  

I have more interviews next week.  One of my potential interviews turned out to be a sketchy pyramid scheme, so I canceled.  I've actually canceled 3 of my interviews so far.  I should probably stop doing that... 

Unpacking

Today, I finally unpacked my bag from my last day of work.

It's been, what, 6 weeks?  I threw it down on the ground when I came home from work, and I later stashed it in a corner under an end table.  I kept looking at it, thinking "come on, just unpack it," but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I just didn't want to.  I didn't want to think about it or look at it or anything.

But today I did.  I threw out the extra batteries and micro SD cards.  It was nice.  Now my apartment is less cluttered.  It's amazing how engrossed I was in that stupid job. 

Meanwhile, I have tons of interviews.  I botched one today, but I wasn't interested in the position at all.  I accidentally told the guy that the information on their website about their training philosophies is incorrect.  It says that you burn more fat by doing low intensity, low volume exercise.  Really, you burn a smaller percentage of fat at higher intensities, but because the overall caloric burn is higher, you still burn more fat.  Come on, everyone knows that.  I don't think I'll be hearing back from them.

I also rode 4 hours today and climbed Cougar again, this time with standard cranks and not my beloved compact.  It hurt.  I am sore.

Back to Square One...

I did a lactate threshold test on Tuesday, and the results were sort of disappointing.  I used to have a huge base back when I had a CTS coach and in the peak of my triathlon days, but then I got burnt out and stopped doing base for like 3 years.  

It showed in my LT test.  And now I have to go back to base.  It's understandable considering that I was VERY burnt out and I couldn't really do a ton of base on the trainer in Michigan without going crazy.  It's still frustrating, though.  I feel like I threw a lot away.

I passed my test! Now I can put more letters after my name (CSCS).  I guess only 65% of people pass it, so that's good.  It wasn't too hard, but I am glad that I studied.

I got a part time job doing mostly admin stuff at HSP, but it could lead to more personal training.  So at least that's something...

Finally Back in Seattle

Another long day traveling.  This time I had the lovely chance to spend 3 hours at the Detroit airport.  

It was nice to go home for a few days.  I got some easy trainer riding in and some weights, but it was a recovery week anyway.  I feel much better after the massage.  No more numb fingers!

Family is the same as usual.  Grandpa is thankful for "nothing" and would rather eat at the country club.  

We had an interesting experience at a Hudson bar, which I'm not really sure how to explain, so maybe I will leave it at that.  

Tooth is fixed!

My Christmas ornament collection is coming along nicely.  Now we just need a tree!

Thank you, Continental

for canceling the only direct flight to Cleveland.

I was originally scheduled to fly through Chicago, but when I changed my flight to Tuesday instead of Wednesday, they routed me through Denver.  What they didn't tell me is that I also had to stop in Chicago.  It took about 9 hours to get home.  At least the United seats are more comfortable.

Home is nice.  Cold.  I'm about to get a massage from the crazy Ukrainian trainer.  One time he told me "Americans...they use oil all the time, but I am Russian, and we only use oil when we go really deep."  He says this as he pours oil all over my leg.  Hopefully I don't cry today.

Acupuncture: Not Convinced

I just paid $150 to have someone stick needles in my back.  I think I could have done the same thing with some of my sewing pins and yielded the same results.  

I really wanted it to help, and it felt like it did, but everything got tight again after about 15 minutes.  Maybe it will take a day or so, but I don't think sitting on an airplane all day tomorrow will help.

Wah just make it stop hurting! :(  

hmmm...

Did I just finish a 4 hour ride with a steep, 18%+ mountain climb, or did I just get hit by a truck?

Sometimes, I am not so sure...

Back still hurts, and 4 hours may have been a little too much for it today.  Really excited about this recovery week!  I think my back will be fine once I recover.  It's likely just a case of too much volume + too much weight.  

Also, if you haven't checked out Skins, you totally should.  I've been wearing them pretty much all the time for the last week, and my legs have never felt better.  It's really worth $100 for a pair of tights.  

A Birthday and A New Team

Thursday was my birthday, and it was really nice.  Erin took the day off, and we went to the Nordic Heritage Museum (sort of funny), the art museum, and we walked around downtown.  Finally, we made ice cream sandwiches, which were really good!

I finally made the decision to switch teams to Hagens Berman.  They are a much more race-oriented team and most of the women are cat 1/2s.  It will be really cool to race on a team with such talented people; in Michigan, there were only about 2 cat 2 women.  

My old team was also really nice about it.  They have been so great, but the team goals don't fit so well with mine.  HB can offer more support and I'll be able to jump in some NRC races with much of the costs covered.  I'm sad to leave sbux because everyone was so nice and it was a great community, but I am also really excited about this new opportunity.  

Training is going pretty well.  My legs feel great thanks to these compression tights I got.  My back has been hurting a lot lately, though.  I am getting acupuncture on Monday; hopefully that will help.  Power numbers keep going up!

My Tooth!

About 5 years ago, I knocked the backs of my front teeth out at swim practice.

I was doing gutter pushups, where you pull yourself up like you are going to get out but then go back down into the water.  x100.  I hit my mouth on the gutter, and my front teeth went through my lip.  The backs of them broke off.

My dad's friend (dentist) fixed it by bonding them back on, but they only expected it to last a few years.  Today, 5 years later, as I was taking a sip from my water bottle, I almost drank the back of my tooth.

It doesn't look so bad; just a little uneven, but boy does it feel weird on the back.

I have to go to our team "tactics talk" soon.  I didn't do my homework -- we were supposed to read a book.  I didn't know that you could learn racing tactics from a book...  

Buddy Flaps

Please take a moment to admire my amazing buddy flaps.

I also put gatorskins on my rain bike (Litespeed... haha), which have been slipping all over the place.  I assumed it was just user error on my part, but it got to the point where my tire would slip out on those little metal strips on bridges.  Kind of scary.  It turns out that it's due to the mold-releasing compound, which leaves the tires very slick at first.  I ran some sandpaper over the tread, so hopefully it will be better.  It's taken away some of my confidence about what I can take a road bike over mainly because I can't take it over anything.

I think this whole gatorskin/winter tire idea is kind of dumb.  Is it really worth adding this much weight to my bike?  Erin and I usually put out the same amount of power when we ride, but on Sunday, I was consistently putting out 20-40 more watts than him, just because of the damn tires.  It seems kind of silly considering that I got 2 flats last year, 1 from hitting a pothole during a crit the size of a crater where I simultaneously broke my Zipp and another where I got a giant tack stuck in my tire.  I don't think these gatorskins would have helped either of those.  I'm thinking of getting some vittoria Paves so I can pretend like I'm doing Paris Roubaix, but I am also cheap.  

In other news, still no job.  Training is going well.  It's fun watching the watts go up and up.  

Bellingham Getaway

Yesterday, Erin and I headed up to Bellingham for the night.  He had to work on Saturday, so we left around 2 PM.  On the way up, it was so pretty outside.  We even saw a rainbow.

We walked around for a bit, had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went to one of those pottery painting places.  We painted Christmas ornaments.  Since we were from out of town, they will ship them to us when they're ready.  I hope they turned out nice!  It was so much fun, though.  We laughed and laughed. :)

Today we went to breakfast and then headed out for a 3.5 hour pure E ride.  We went from Bellingham up to Birch Park, which is right along the sound.  It was kind of rainy but still pretty.  Now I am tired.  It was nice to get away for a day.

We also finally mounted the deer hoof coat rack.  My dad gave me the hooves last year from the deer he shot (I guess they come with the mounted head...), and today, we finally mounted them.  Before this, I just had 4 separate hooves with screws in them.  I have a feeling this will freak out a few people.

Day 13: This Sucks.

Here I will complain.

Today I am really bored.  For some reason, I am also really tired, dizzy, brain fogged, and generally out of it.  This combination is bad because whenever I try to do something to combat my boredom, my brain fog and tiredness get in the way, so I return to boredom.

I'm trying to study for this dumb CSCS test even though I already studied all this stuff for 4 years straight.  It's not a problem, and I finally scheduled my exam today.  I can't take it until early December, so really, what's the hurry?  

In the mean time... I don't know.  This has been a low volume week for training. Only 10 hours, but I was really dragging during my weight training today.  I'm not sure why I am so tired.  My coach is loading me up on protein, and I've been sleeping a lot.  Maybe it's the whey protein that I'm not handling well.  Or it could be a combination of the whey, training more, and somewhat higher levels of anxiety because I have no real future.

It's weird.  Every other time in my life where I've had a break, there has been a definite end.  Summer break ended with school, but now, there is no definite end.   I've been in a daze for the last 2 weeks, searching for jobs, trying to figure out what to do.  I'm having trouble coherently interacting with people.  The marketing job market isn't being too responsive either.  

I tried to fill out a form to do volunteering, but just as I had filled it all out and submitted it, the server was down.  

Rock Star Pumpkin

We carved pumpkins last week.  Well, only 1.  The other was really rotten.  

Things are getting better.   I lifted weights this morning, and then took the most wonderful, protein shake induced nap. 

 Election day isn't as much fun when you don't vote in person.  I voted absentee in Ohio, and I didn't even get a sticker! :(  Actually, I've never voted in person...

I won?

yesterday, my team put on a cyclocross race to benefit the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  the turnout was pretty low because there was a Seattle series race today, and I guess series points are more important than cancer in most people's minds...  

there ended up only being 4 cat 4 women, so they bunched us with the masters women.  the course was really scary, and i had some trouble just getting through it during warmup.  it had some tricky, off-camber descents covered in small, loose rocks.  i don't like rocks or twisty downhills.  i ended up running a LOT, 4 times a lap when I only needed to run twice.  it was funny.  my teammates were laughing at me, but i was laughing too.  

i ended up winning somehow, and i won a free pair of sugoi shorts!  i know that running through everything that scares me isn't the best racing tactic, but this stuff doesn't come easily to me at all.

erin, of course, was the master bunny hopper.  he finished mid pack again, and as usual, his sweet mtb skills made up for his somewhat lacking fitness.  he sure can bunny hop his cx bike high!

today alyson, liga and i went for a 3 hour ride, which was nice until it started raining really, really hard.  rain is much nicer when you have fenders and buddy flaps, though.

too cheap for a stamp

i had to go into my old office to get my paycheck today because they are too cheap to mail it.

it was weird, and it made me angry.  everyone was all wah wah we miss you wah wah.  then they proceeded to make fun of me for planning on doing a cyclocross race tomorrow.  they laughed in my face.  

funny, considering that, you know, it's a helmet camera company.

Day 6 - Screw It

I'm over it.

I'm over this stupid startup,  and I'm over this 9-5 working biz.

I've been riding my bike a lot lately, and I'm going to keep doing it.  I'm 22, and at this rate, I have a shot at really doing something with this.  I don't want to look back and think "I could have been a pro, but I worked my 20s away instead."  I've never trained for bike racing, and I can already tell that it's making a difference.

So here is the new plan:  Become a certified personal trainer (CSCS of course), work better hours to accommodate my desire to ride my bike in daylight, and give this one heck of a shot.

Then I'll worry about growing up and entering the corporate world when I'm older.  

Better!

I did the cx race at Ft Steilacoom today.  It was much better.

This was a little more classic cyclocross.  It had some wider than usual singletrack sections, some descents, some tricky off camber sections, and a lot of room to haul ass.

I had a really bad start and began the race probably 3rd to last.  I got into a rhythm, though, and gradually passed a bunch of people.  I ended up in 11th/35 riders.  It was a lot of fun once I got into my rhythm.  I was passing a lot of people on the hills, flats, and the long hurdle/run up section.  There was a long hill with 4 hurdles and then more hill.   I ended up running the whole hill, which was just as fast as the people who tried to get on right after the hurdles.  Many of them failed at this.

I was also doing better in the technical sections, and by the end I wasn't getting passed in them.  I am looking forward to more of these less mountain bikey races.  It's nice that my triathlon experience gave my legs this magical power to run off the bike no matter how little I run.  It's great.

Training is going well.  I got a coach last week, and I've been ramping up my training.  I guess it's good that I lost my job because this is key base time.  And the weather has been great! 60 and sunny today.

Erin raced too, and he did well.  

truck

i feel like i just got hit by a truck for 4 months. and today i was handed my medical bill.

i'm having trouble grasping this. i was so invested in the company. work didn't leave me when i went home; i was always thinking of things to make it better, the problems that i saw, what i could do to fix it, what was on my plate for the next day. for awhile, i felt like i was watching a train wreck. now, i feel somewhat lucky, like i got on one of the first rescue boats on the Titanic.

i'm just confused. i feel like instead of keeping the good people they kept the good positions. i know that my position wasn't really necessary, but i do think that i could have done a great job in any other area and i do think they were stupid to let me go. i would have been in it for the long haul. i worked hard; i was ready to sell as many cameras as i could today. as much as i wanted to quit, i wouldn't have because i'm too stubborn. i probably would have been around for the next startup too. meanwhile, the people who stayed have plans to move away within a year and aren't really interested in the future of the company.

it's just weird. a few weeks ago, people were talking about how the hard workers will stay and others will leave by various means. they told me i was a hard worker and that they noticed all the work i did. but today i sat in a room with 4 other hard workers as we were told we no longer had jobs. i honestly felt like i was on american idol in the room that doesn't go forward. everyone else was in the you made it! room. people used to say that they were going to do a bunch of startups and that they just need a good team. i said i would do it. maybe i don't want to be involved if the team they chose today is the team.

it's surreal. but whatever, it's their loss.

but really, it's retarded.

[this was written in a state of anger, and a lot of these thoughts were transient]

laid off

today, 5 people in our company got laid off, including me.

the latest investor round didn't go well, so they got rid of everyone that isn't crucial to the company (basically anyone not sales or development). it sucks. i'm angry. but it's for the better i guess because i didn't like working there anyway. i wanted to quit a bunch of times, but i was too stubborn to do it.

so...now i have tons of time on my hands. lovely, jobless in seattle, again.

i just wish they'd given some notice.

Cat 2!

I was bored at work the other day, and I convinced myself to apply for an upgrade to Cat 2.

What was I thinking?  I don't know.  I figured, if I have the points, I might as well try.  My upgrade got approved this morning.  I'm really excited about it because now I have something else to look forward to other than work.  I really want to give this thing a shot, and with all my collegiate points, it was silly to waste them.  The only thing is... people are madd fast out here.  It ain't like Michigan.

I've been riding a lot this week, feeling super motivated.  It's a long, rainy winter here in Seattle, so hopefully it lasts.  I have been feeling great, though!  I rode a hard 40 yesterday and didn't feel too taxed.  Then I did another 25 this morning with a lot of flat sprints/stomps.  Riding is hard around here;  it takes a long time to ride 40 miles!

My hamstrings are super sore from cx practice on Wednesday.  Overall, though, cx is really helping me.  My cornering is feeling a lot better.  Erin is helping me with that, too.  I feel like I am one with the bike on the road.  Love that Colnago. :)

Another Mountain Bike Race

Today marked another mountain bike race, but unfortunately, no one told the competitors, so we all brought cyclocross bikes.

I did ok.  I beat 7 people this time!  I was having a lot of trouble clipping in because my cleats were completely caked in dirt.  I think I would have done a lot better if it weren't for that.  My mounts and dismounts were a lot better, and I felt generally faster through the single track.  This course was more single track than last week, but it was easier and wider.  

I finally have my new bike, which is gorgeous.  I need to get better at this so I can represent my Yeti well.  

Erin raced, too, and he did well.  He is a little out of shape, but his awesome mtb skills put him at about midpack.   The single track was too narrow to pass people, which didn't work so well for his strengths.  I am still scared to ride on single track, but I am getting there. 

You can ride a road bike on this?

My experience yesterday was... interesting.  I did another cyclocross race, but this one was about 50% single track (or what seemed like 50%).

If you know me, you know that my experience of off road riding consists of this:

-Attempting to mountain bike 2 years ago.  Getting terrified, shaking uncontrollably.  Staying clear of anything off road.

-Coaxing myself into 2 dirt road races this spring.  Before that, I wouldn't set a tire on dirt.

-Successfully mountain biking in September for about 35 minutes. 

It's taken me a long time to come that far, and cyclocross is really throwing me through the off-road gauntlet.  As I did a warmup lap, I convinced myself that the single track was too much and that I couldn't race.  I didn't even know you could take a road bike on this stuff.

Erin wouldn't let me do that.  I reluctantly went to the start line.  I did not do well in this race.  In fact, I got 2nd to last.  I'm not used to being bad at bike related things, but this is good for me.  It's teaching me that I don't always have to win, and I don't have to do well for it to be fun.  It was still a challenge for me, and I did finish!  I even made it through the single track section on the last lap without getting off at all.  

So for now, I will crawl through this cyclocross business.  I'm not even at a point where I can do these races hard because my technical skills are so behind.  How is it that I'm so bad at this?  I've been racing for a long time, and everyone else seems to pick it faster than me.  I guess this is my weakness.

At least it's not the engine that's the problem.

I'll tell ya one thing.  Cyclocross out here is a lot different than in the Midwest.   

Otherwise, things are going well.  I'm having trouble finding fenders that will fit on my Litespeed, my appointed rain bike.  I rode a hilly 35 miles today feeling pretty good.  Work is boring.    

Bike #6

Today I did my first cyclocross race.  It was a humbling experience.  I got 20th in the women's cat 4 field out of about 35 riders.  The fields are so big here!  I borrowed my teammate's Jake the Snake, picked it up at 5 PM yesterday, threw a seat and pedals on it, and rode it for about 20 minutes.  Need I say: unprepared?

I am definitely lacking in the technical skill department.  I passed a ton of people on the flat sections, but I had some trouble in the other parts.  I can do flying mounts without any trouble on flat ground when I'm not tired.  But add in a run up, some hurdles, and fatigue, and I mess them up.  It was the same case for triathlons. No problem in practice, but when you are dizzy and fumbling around after swimming a mile, it's a lot more difficult.

I got better as the race went on.  I had some trouble with my mount after the run up.  There was a tricky descent after it, which didn't help.  Here are some pictures.  Did I mention that I finally joined a team?  Team Starbucks.  They are all so nice and helpful!  They make it so easy to race.  What kind of people lend their extra cross bikes to a dumb roadie like me?

I should also mention that there were 180 people on the course during our race!

Also, I just bought my 6th bike.  A Yeti cross bike with Rival components, an easton fork and a chris king headset for only $2000.  So pretty!  I know, I know, I have way too many bikes, but I use them all (2 road, 1 track, 1 mtn, 1 cx).  I would get rid of my Litespeed, but now I have to put fenders on it so I can use it as my rain bike (they are strict about that around here).  I might sell my TT bike, though.  I don't even have that with me in Seattle. . 

Interbike

I am at the Vegas airport, on my way back to Seattle.

Interbike was very cool.  The first two days were the outdoor demo, which is in the desert.  It was 95 degrees and really, really dusty.  We did camera demos, which went fairly well.  Now I have to send everyone their footage.  We couldn't do DVDs on site because of the dust and the lack of power.

Today I went to the indoor showcase.  It was really cool.  I got tons of stickers and swag.  I also got pictures of some things, such as the P4.  That was particularly noteworthy because I took the picture before I realized what it was.  In other news, apparently Chris King makes bottom brackets now.  I also talked to all of our competition who had booths.  They weren't happy to see me.

Bicycle paint jobs are not what they used to be.  All the Colnagos were plain. :(  I did get to play with the electronic dura-ace, though.

I don't like Vegas.  It is hot, dirty, and makes me feel like I need to exercise.  I will be happy to return to the Seattle rain.  Never thought I would say that. :)

Coffin Box

Yesterday, at work, I purchased a coffin box.

60x19x23 is apparently the standard size of a coffin box.  They only cost $17.80!  I also drove 30 minutes outside the city to pick it up.

This is my job.

In other news, interbike interbike interbike interbike!  I leave Sunday, and I leveraged myself into a day of the showcase. :)

So nice!

Ahhh, so nice!  The weather is still perfect.

I've gotten a decent amount of riding in this week.  4 days in a row.  That might be a record since I've moved here.  Yesterday, I went to the Starbucks meet the team ride.  I am having trouble picking a team to join.  There are so many!  I really like the Starbucks team.  All the people are really nice, and it seems like more of a community, which I like.  My only concern is that there aren't many cat 1/2/3s for road (only 1 now, a few on the verge of upgrading), and I don't like racing by myself.  They have a few 1/2/3s for track, though.  They are also a slightly older demographic.  It will be hard to find a team as young as my lovely Michigan team, though. ;-)

I've basically narrowed down my search to 2 teams.  Hopefully I can make a decision in about a week.  Today I went for a nice 30 mile ride.  I went north and kind of guessed since I didn't plan a route.  It ended up being really pretty.  I am so lucky we have the Sound and the Olympic Mountains.  Otherwise, I would have been very, very lost.  I found some really nice roads, though.

Erin is coming back tomorrow.  He got sent home early because he didn't have anything to do.  We have been talking a bit, and it seems like things could work with some changes.  We'll see how it goes.  There is still hope.  

Work is busy.  Interbike is next week, and we don't have much planned.  I'm pretty nervous about it.  They also gave me a lot more responsibility, which I find kind of funny.  Everyone always asks me if they are stepping on my toes.  What toes?  I don't have any marketing toes.  I don't know if I wrote this, but I also finally got a real job with a real salary!  They are clever.  Once they realized how much overtime I was working (60 hours last month), they put me on salary.  I don't mind, though.  I work hard regardless of how I am paid.  Plus, I'm making a lot more, and I have stock options.  Can't complain.

Freakin Sweet!

My parents are visiting this weekend because my dad has a periodontal academy meeting.  

On Friday, we went to the Space Needle, on the monorail, and ate by the pier.  We also saw Tropic Thunder, which was a bit disappointing.  I'd never been to the space needle before.  It was disorienting.

On Saturday, we took a sea plane to San Juan Island.  The plane ride was so pretty!  It was pretty cool to be on a sea plane, too.  The landing was a little scary.  Once we got to San Juan, we rode rental bikes to this park where there are supposed to be whales.  Then we rode back.  The whole ride was really nice. We flew back, and I showed my parents around Queen Anne, Ballard, and we ate at the Matador.  The weather has been perfect lately; 70 and sunny.  They got very lucky.

Today we just walked around and didn't do too much.  I am really tired.

Tomorrow, at work, I have to make 20 t-shirts that say "HR Nightmare" on them for a company outing.  haha.  It's nice to do productive things while I'm at work.

World's Biggest Dork

This weekend, I went to Mt. Hood, OR for a small event at Windell's camp.  

It's a freeride, snowboard, ski, and skateboard camp.  Pretty cool!  They had a lot of jumps, skate ramps, and even an indoor foam pit.  I also met the Hayes Brakes rep, which would be great if I mountain biked.

Basically, all these things are boiling down to one solution:  I need to start mountain biking.  The freeride scene is so much more laid back.  The only problem is that I am deathly afraid, and I don't know if I can get over it.   Now, I have to start preparing for Interbike!  I know, my job is just not fun at all.  I also played on a giant pogo stick.  

On the way back, I took a detour and went over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  I thought it was the coolest thing ever.  No one else seemed to share my feelings, though.  There was no historical site or anything.  I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get on it by foot, but I was unsuccessful.  Oh, what a failed engineering project.  

Westbound was much cooler.  There were big grates in the bridge so you couldn't switch lanes.

As soon as I got on to the other side, it started pouring.  Good ol' Olympic Peninsula.  

Eastbound is newer.  Not as cool.

Luckily, the bridge didn't resonate and collapse when I was on it.

Mt. Hood was gorgeous.  But it was hard to get pictures.  It was also really cold.  It snowed on the mountain on Saturday night, and it was around 35 at the bottom.

Almost Done

I feel like I've been in Whistler forever.  Probably because it's true.

I've been here since the 6th, but I'm finally leaving either tomorrow or Monday.  The event has gone really well. We've been doing camera demos for the last 8 days (1 more!), and the response has been really positive.  We sold 21 cameras in 3 days, which is pretty sweet.  I'm really tired, though.  It's hard talking about the same thing for so long.  We've been super busy.

We've also had a lot of fun.  The people I work with are all pretty cool.  I am very sleep deprived because I haven't gone to sleep before 2 in about a week.  Pretty good for "the real world" that everyone said is so awful.  I just stuck cameras on downhill helmets all week.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from Cleveland and Crankworx.

Giant hummingbird bug

Pretty view between Vancouver and Whistler

Whistler in the summer.  It's so weird without snow.  I'll have more pictures of the events and stuff later.  They are setting up some huge jumps.  Should be pretty cool.

Crankworx!

I'm in Whistler until the 18th for Crankworx, this big freeride/mountain biking festival.

We got here yesterday. The drive was pretty.  I'm not so happy about not being able to ride my bike for so long (I didn't bring it with me), but I guess I can consider this my end-of-season break, just not at the end of the season. Hopefully it doesn't mess up my track racing too much for the rest of the season.

 

It's weird being at a mountain in the summer.  There are so many downhill riders.  I've never seen so many!  Little kids, parents, everyone.  

I've been so busy lately.  I went to Cleveland last weekend, and I worked 10 hour days all last week to make up for not working on Friday.  This week, I've been working a lot to get ready for Crankworx.  

I also made an amazing discovery today.  I found watermelon, nectarine, and all other flavors of cider.  I must investigate this, or maybe I should just move to Canada.

Learning is Frustrating

I raced on the velodrome again tonight.  There were 2 races that I had never done before, unknown distance and 2 lap.

For the unknown distance, I tried to stay up front so I didn't get boxed in.  There were like 11 in our field.  I raced really aggressively, probably too aggressively.  It also ended up being really long; 10 laps.  I think I attacked 3 times during the race, and in the end, I just didn't have enough left, and I got 3rd.

Next was the 2 lap race.  I had never even seen one of these races before, and I was in the first heat.  Here, I learned that 1 is not a good number.  I drew #1, so I was in the first lane closest to the inside.  At first, I thought this was good, but now I see it's not so good.  Erin gave me a really good push.  I stayed low, basically pulled the whole race, and got boxed in going around the final corner.  I was pretty sure I got 2nd because I heard the other girl swear when I passed her, but they had me in 3rd, so I didn't move on to the finals.  

Last was the 4x4.  Here, I did better.  I won the first 2 sprints and I got 3rd in the last 2.  I got really tired in the middle, and I couldn't go much faster for the last two sprints.  It was really, really cold by this point.  I had arm warmers, leg warmers, and 2 jackets on right before the race.  Let me remind you that it is July.  

There were 2 crashes last night (not in my races).  There have been a lot lately, at least one at every night I've watched.  I like track, though, because the officials yell at people for causing crashes.  In road racing, the officials don't do much to minimize crashing. 

Busy Week

Things are getting better.

Our company won an IDEA award, which I guess is pretty prestigious.  We were in the sports and entertainment category.  The other product that won in our category was a waterproof vibrator.  Lots of jokes ensued.   

Yesterday we went to watch the FSA grand prix.  I was going to race, but when I heard about all the big guns racing, I talked myself out of it.  There was a nasty crash in the cat 3 scratch race.  It seems like people always lay on the ground for a long time when they crash on the track.  Crashing disc wheels also sound absolutely awful.

Speaking of crazy crashes, check this out! Keirin Crash 

Yesterday, we went sailing on the sound.

There are a lot of sailboats at the shilshole marina!  We went with a guy Erin knows from work.

Mountains.  They are hard to take pictures of.
You can faintly see Mt. Rainier in the distance.
The city from across the sound.

it's back

with patience, my desire to race has returned. and here...we...go.

Animated Star Wars and Broken Tibias

i used to take 16mm film classes through cleveland institute of art.  this was about 6 or 7 years ago.  we always used to joke about how george lucas uses so much CGI, he would make movies without actors if he could.  movies with just CGI.  well, it appears that day has come.

we saw batman last night.  i was really excited about seeing it, but the second the actual movie started, i got really, really tired, and i could hardly stay awake.  i honestly don't really know what happened towards the end. :(  really, though, the joker was the only appealing thing about the movie.  i'm not really into the whole batman thing.

also, i think i'm going to do some of the FSA grand prix.  we'll see how that goes.  i'm a little nervous just thinking about it, but a $14,000 purse prize? gotta tap that.

i should also mention that the surface of my knee is still numb from my crash at cone azalia.  i made a very professional diagram to illustrate what is numb based on the picture i took right after the race.  i'm pretty convinced that i chipped off some of my tibia because it's still sore when i press on it.  but today, there was progress; the numb part of my leg felt itchy.  maybe the feeling will come back.

things i learned:

-going 41 mph on a bicycle looks really slow on a helmet cam.  it's quite disappointing. 

-i usually don't make it to the thursday night velodrome practices; thursdays at work tend to depress me, so i tend to just go home.  

-pygmy hedgehogs are expensive, and they live for up to 6 years.  that's too much of a commitment for me, i think.  i'll keep it in mind.

-it takes a long time to paint an apartment building.  they have been power-washing and painting for at least 2 weeks, and they still have at least a week to go.

Wednesday Night Racing

Well, tonight I moved up to the somewhat bigger leagues.  I raced with the cat 4 women in the Wednesday Night Racing.  Wednesday racing is a lot better than Monday; there is actually an announcer and music.

 I wasn't feeling competitive today because I had a long day at work and after battling the 520 traffic going to Redmond, the last thing I wanted to do was race.  520 is like a bastard child; sometimes i like it because it's fun to drive on, but it's a shameful sort of love.  That makes no sense, but neither does the traffic on 520.  I got there late, registered right as it was closing, and warmed up quickly, but was still unmotivated.  I have a tendency to "tow fatties" according to my Michigan teammates when I'm unmotivated.  

We started out with an 8 lap point-a-lap.  I don't really like point-a-laps because I seem to be pretty good at getting 2nd place, but I suck when it comes to getting first.  I'll have to work on that. 

I think I won a few points in the point-a-lap, but I don't remember.  Next we did an 8 lap win n out (first person to cross the line on lap 4 wins, 1st on lap 5 gets 2nd, down to lap 8 which scores the rest).  This Canadian girl who seems to win everything around here won, and I got 2nd.  I seem to be really good at getting 2nd to Canadians (but getting 2nd to Julie, the collegiate national crit champion was totally acceptable in my book ).

Lastly, we did a 4x4, and I got 2nd a bunch of times.  I might have won once, but I don't remember.  I'm also really good at forgetting my results immediately.  Overall, it was fun.  It's interesting that I can still race well considering that I haven't been riding my bike much at all (3 rides per week, tops). 

First week: Survived

I survived my first week of work!  I am tired.  

Yesterday was fun.  Our office won free Jamba Juice, so we made a trip to University Village to get lunch and Jamba Juice.  This ended up taking 2 hours, and we missed our PR meeting. Oops.  The Jamba Juice is right next to the Apple store, and it was crazy seeing the lines!

I rode my bike to work twice this week.  It's only 4 miles, which is good.  If it was longer, I probably wouldn't want to do it.  

I really want a pygmy hedgehog.  Actually, I want 2 so I can name them Sonic and Knuckles.  Aren't they so cute??  I first saw them on digg a few months ago.

A means to an end?

I started my new job today.  I spent most of the day adding people as friends to the company facebook account.

As wonderful as this may sound, it's a little depressing.  Also, apparently there is a limit to the number of friends you can add in one day.   I reached it today.

After work, I went to Marymoor to do some track racing.  This week went better.  I switched my gearing to 48x14, which was much better.  I always seem to screw up the point-a-lap, but I won the scratch race.  After that, I got moved up to the mens "group 2" race, which is basically cat 5 men who are moderately fast.  

With the cat 5 men, I did a 3x3, and they were much slower than I expected.  This group health girl also got moved up, and we broke up the field pretty well - there were only 4 of us left for the final sprint.  She tried to help me go for the win, but one guy jumped going into the final turn, and I just didn't feel like going that early.  Instead of making myself sprint, I lazily sat there for a few seconds and by the time I started going harder, I couldn't catch him.  I ended up in 3rd.  Now I get to move up to Wednesdays! 

48x16 / i need a harder gear

Last night was my first evening of track racing.  We did a 5 lap point-a-lap, 5 lap scratch, and 3x3 points.

I quickly learned that I need a harder gear ratio.  My bianchi came with 48x16, and I got 2nd in every single race because I couldn't accelerate fast enough.  It was really frustrating.  There was another girl racing who was pretty fast, and every time she accelerated, I would take twice as long to catch her.  I just had no chance.  I couldn't attack her either because she could accelerate faster to catch me.

It was also frustrating because the officials and some of the other racers kept commenting on my pedal stroke and saying that I need to stop bouncing so much.  I can appreciate constructive criticism, however I knew that I was really bouncing because I was spinning too fast.  Once people realized that my gear was too easy, everyone and their brother came up to me and told me I needed a harder gear.  I knew this last week after the keirin simulation, but I just haven't had a chance to get one.

Track racing is weird.  I'm used to shifting into a hard gear and stomping out the joules/second to win a sprint.  That doesn't work, and it's interesting how the accelerations are a lot more gradual than they are on the road.  It's not the same kind of explosive power.  Maybe this is more due to my gearing, though.  My legs were spinning so fast, and there was no anaerobic work going on like there is when I do stomps or flat sprints on a road bike.

All in all, it was fun and a good learning experience.

Otherwise, the waiting game continues.  I'm waiting to hear back from two companies, and I should know if I got a job by tomorrow. Either way, it would be fine.  A fun job making little money vs. a hard job making lots of money.  

Velodromes and Peach Cider, continued.

Yesterday, the velodrome was so much fun!

I went to Redmond early, and I rode around lake sammamish (about 25 miles).  then i went to the general thursday night class, which was nerve-racking.  i get scared riding with a lot of men when i don't know their skill levels, but i survived.  i did a 400 m sprint from a standing start to get my seed time, but i don't know if it was good.  

the women's class was really fun.  we got to do a keirin race simulation, where we motorpaced behind a motorcycle for 3.5 laps starting at 15 mph and going up to 28.  once he pulled off, we had 1.5 laps to duke it out.  i went first in the paceline behind the motorcycle, which was a little scary but not so bad.  i managed to stay in front after he pulled off, and i held it out for the "win".  it was fun!  i spent about 5 hours on my bike yesterday.

also, the peach cider was good.  i am a fan.

buyers remorse

i am having a little bit of buyers remorse.

i went to a bike shop today and found a bianchi pista in my size.  the guy working at the shop also happened to be at the track class yesterday, and he let me test ride it for longer than i was supposed to.  i rode around green lake in my sandals (go me; wearing sandals to buy a new bike).  i liked it, and it felt close enough to my road setup so it won't be too much of a switch in position and muscle recruitment.  it's weird how i can tell if my seat height is off to a few millimeters.

i ended up buying the bike.  it was only $650 with tax.  i didn't think i'd find a much better price online with shipping, and i thought that if i waited, they might sell my size.  

when i got home, i went for a spin around Ballard, but i didn't get clipped in all the way before i started going downhill.  i one-leg pedaled for awhile while narrowly avoiding a bus.  luckily there was no one in the intersection because i couldn't stop with just one foot.  other than that, the rest of my ride was uneventful.  it was only about 4 miles.  things that are weird: standing up to cross railroad tracks doesn't work quite the same; standing up to go over speed bumps; stopping.  on the track, though, i don't really have to deal with any of these issues.

i'm just feeling like this was a bit of an impulse buy.  maybe i should have tried riding/racing on the track a few more times before buying a bike.  oh well; at least it was only $650. 

My favorite is the ! no brakes. haha

Le Velodrome

Yesterday was my first experience on the velodrome.  It was so much fun!

At the Marymoor velodrome in Redmond, they make you take an intro class before you can do anything else on the track.  I did that yesterday.  It was 4 hours of instruction and drills.  We did some elbow bumping drills, pacelining, and some other general stuff.

I thought I would hate track riding because my natural instinct is to brake when I get scared.  I had never ridden a fixed gear before, but it wasn't so bad at all. :)  After the class, we got to ride around for awhile, and I practiced sprinting out of the saddle.  It's much easier on a fixie because there is a constant pressure on the pedals and the pedal strokes are more fluid.  

On Thursdays, they have women's night at the velodrome where they do training.  I think I will go this Thursday.  Then I'll start with the Monday night racing and hopefully quickly move up to Wednesday and maybe eventually Friday night.  Now I need a track bike.  I really want a green bianchi, but I am having trouble finding one.   I may resort to painting my own bike.

Compactless in Seattle

As you may know, Seattle is really hilly.

I broke my shifter on my Colnago in the collegiate national crit, and since then, I've been demoted to my Litespeed.  This means that I've been riding regular cranks, not compact.  There are some nice rides from our apartment, but they have some very steep hills on them.  I'm getting pretty good at climbing out of the saddle for extended periods of time, though.

My new shifter came yesterday, and of course, Erin left it at work, but when he does finally bring it home, I may finally be able to experience the joys of a compact in this city.  I found a pretty nice route from my apartment where I only have to unclip about 3 times over 17 miles.  I know 17 miles seems short, but with so many steep hills, I only average like 14-15 mph, so it takes longer than usual.  It's actually a little sad how slow the rides are, but I know I'm doing ok because I can still drop Erin on the hills. ;-)

I got an interview with the company that I really want to work for - for the health care consulting position.  Unlike my last interview, where I had no real interest in working for the company, this one is for real.  Hopefully my BCBG pantsuit with short sleeves is business formal enough.  

Finally a nice day

My dad got me a new camera - the olympus stylus 850 sw. 8 megapixels!  here are some  pictures. 

Yesterday was finally a nice day, so we went to the beach a few blocks from our apartment.  It's along the Puget Sound, so you can't swim because it's freezing, but it's still nice.   It's cool how on such short notice, when the weather is nice, so many people go to the beach.  All the fire pits were taken, and there were a lot of people playing volleyball and catch.

Here is a view from our apartment.  You can see the very tip of mt rainier when it's not cloudy. I keep hoping that it will grow or queen anne will shrink so that i can see more of it. so far, no luck.
The rock gym that I want to go to.

I seem to have pulled my hip flexor, so it really hurts when i run/hike for a long time/swim.  It's putting a damper on my exercising.  I really want to start playing tennis.

Today I signed up for an intro class at the velodrome.  I want to start going to the women's nights on Thursdays, but in order to do those, you have to do a track intro course first.  I signed up for next Sunday.  I think I will either really like track racing or I will really hate it.

New Apartment and Progress

We moved into our new apartment on June 1. We've spent most of the time since then unpacking and buying things for the apartment.  

We got a great deal on a couch, a kitchen table, and chairs from a consignment store.  It's all nice stuff for only $500 total!  The rest of the stuff we got from Ikea, which included some artwork, a dresser, and some end tables.  We also got some miscellaneous items like plants for our porch and compact fluorescent light bulbs to save $$$ and our precious environment.

Here are some pictures.  I don't want to upload them all to here. 

flickr

I am also making progress on the job search.  I heard back from 2 companies so far; one is for a sales position at a language translation company.  the other is for a health care analyst at a consulting firm.  I had 2 phone interviews with the first company already and I should have an interview in person next week.  I have a phone interview with the other company today.  I'm not sure how I feel about sales, so I'm a little hesitant about that position.  I wouldn't mind it since I would be selling something that I know is important, but I don't know how good I would be at sales.  We'll see.

I haven't been riding that much.  I've just been busy with the job search; it's turned into a full time job.  Also, the weather has been awful.  It's been 50 and rainy almost everyday since I've been here.  I have been swimming a few times, though, and we go for walks/hikes when we don't ride.  There is also a rock gym right across the street which I really want to go to.

City Riding

I'm slowly getting used to the city riding in Seattle.  It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be.

During the week, while Erin is at work, I don't really like to drive all the way to the east side to ride.  Instead, I've been experimenting with the trail riding in Seattle.  Last week, I rode on the Burke Gilman trail for what felt like a long long time but I think was only about 25 miles.  The trail is pretty nice, but it does become pretty busy in some sections, so this week I tried to find ways to bypass the busy parts.  

There are signs along the trail that say "fast riders should take Burke Gilman bypass route."  I tried to follow this route last time, but I quickly lost the signs.  Because I don't know my way around Seattle at all, I figured it was better to stick to the trail.  The trail isn't that busy during the day when I go riding, but if I start riding later after work, I need alternate routes.

Today I found some ways around the trail where the roads were still fairly low traffic with not too many stops.  I still have a few kinks to work out, but I'm getting there.  I ended up riding 36 miles today.

Otherwise, the job search continues.  Still no callbacks.  We move into our new apartment on Sunday, which I'm really excited about.  All of my stuff is packed in bags and boxes either in my car or in Erin's living room.  It will be nice to unpack.

We had a really fun long weekend.  On Saturday, we hiked up Mt Si, which is 8 miles round trip (4 miles up, 4 miles down).  It only took us about 3 hours, but I was so sore the next day.  Sunday we rode around Lake Sammamish, which was really nice, and yesterday we went downtown for a bit and then walked around Queen Anne.  The weather has been great!

We made it!

We survived the 30+ hour drive from Ann Arbor to Seattle.  

I actually ended up picking Erin up at Midway in Chicago so that he didn't have to fly all the way to Ann Arbor.  This saved a lot of time.  We made it to Minneapolis on Friday, and the drive through Wisconsin was beautiful.  On Saturday, we drove to Billings, Montana.  It was really windy outside so it was hard driving.  North Dakota is a terrible state.  Not one thing about it is appealing.  Fargo is worse than suburbia hell.

On Sunday, we drove all the way to Seattle.  This drive was much nicer.  Montana is really pretty, and we drove through the mountains.  We stopped in Coeur d'Alene for lunch and we walked around the town a little bit.  We finally arrived in Seattle around 9 last night.  The drive through Western Washington was beautiful and very exciting because we decided that we want to buy windmills.

Now I really have to find a job...

Collegiate Cycling Nationals

Well, I guess I can say it was a learning experience.  

I tried not to have too high of expectations going into the weekend because it was my first race with such a big field and such high caliber athletes.  When we rode parts of the road race course on Friday, I was a little nervous because my asthma seemed significantly worse due to the altitude.  I didn't have a form on file with USADA, so technically my asthma medication was a violation, but I asked the officials before the race and they said it was ok.  Phew!  I think I would have died without it.

Anyway, on race day my asthma was much better.  The Horsetooth Reservoir was beautiful, which I tried to remember as I was suffering up it.  The course started out with a fairly steep, 1.5 mile climb and then 2 more fairly significant climbs.  The pack split up on the first climb which pretty much decided the race.  A breakaway of 7 got away and stayed out for the rest of the day.  I was in one of the chase packs that eventually grew into a pretty large group.  We were organized for a little while, but then no one wanted to pull and the breakaway got a bigger gap. We had it down to about a minute for awhile, but the gap got bigger on our way back into Fort Collins.  The wind was pretty killer on the course since it was blowing at about 25 mph.  By the end of the race, I didn't have much of a kick left for the final sprint into the headwind.  I ended up finishing 22nd for the day.  I did hit 54.6 mph for a max speed, which is the fastest I've ever gone.

Sunday was an 8 corner crit in downtown Fort Collins.  I was pretty nervous about this because I've never done a crit with more than 30 people in it - the field was about 60 for the crit (80 for the RR).  Anyway, my main goals for the race were to finish and to stay upright.  I was only able to accomplish one of those goals.  I started out in the back of the pack because I got called up late, and I couldn't really move up in the field.  

At one point, a bunch of girls crashed in front of me, and I was faced with 2 options: I could hit them or I could hit the curb.  I opted for the curb, endoed over it, and landed on the grass.  Amazingly, I didn't get a flat and my wheel was not at all out of true or round.  I did break one of my shifters -- it still works, but when I downshift with the rear shifter, it stays clicked in unless I push it back out.  Luckily, this happened with about 7 laps to go, so I was still able to get a free lap.  I hopped back into the race and just focused on surviving the rest of it.  2 girls crashed separately on the last lap, and somehow, while I was going around them, I got dropped a little bit from the main field.  I finished  a few seconds off the back in a disappointing 48th place.  Oh well.

The good news is that Julie got in a 2 person breakaway and was able to pull off the win to become the collegiate national crit champion!  It was pretty cool watching her put on the stars and bars jersey, especially because she is Canadian. ;-)

Cue the world's smallest violin

For Cone Azalia ended in tragedy.

The race was going well.  The first lap was a little strange because I didn't pre-ride the course, and I was having trouble getting into a rhythm with the switches between dirt and pavement.  On the second lap, I was feeling better, and I was just sitting in the pack feeling fine.  On the third lap, we hit the first dirt section, and about halfway into it, 2 girls crashed in front of me.  I got around them, but I swerved too much on the gravel and I lost my traction.  I crashed, but luckily, I only hit my knee on the ground, and I only have one small patch of road rash.

It was scary, though, because the first girl to go down hit the ground really hard.  There was a huge pool of blood next to her head and for awhile she was not responding.  By the time help arrived, she was at least conscious and she could feel her legs.  I heard through the grape vine that she is in the hospital and in stable condition.  Stuff like that makes me not like bike racing so much.  I'm surprisingly not too shaken up by it.  I hope she gets better quickly!

I was able to get back on my bike and finish the last lap, most if which I rode with Scott because he stopped to help.  I guess there were 2 priority health women riding behind me up to the finish.  I didn't even know they were there because I had pretty much given up on racing at that point, but they sprinted past me at the line.  Kind of rude I thought especially because one of them made Scott and I wait to help her fix her bike but whatever.

The saddest part is my ripped bar tape.  This was one-of-a-kind, Nashbar discount bin bar tape, and it is now broken.  Thus, I shall continue playing the world's smallest violin.  *rubs thumb and index finger together*

The Tragedy of Commons

Now that many of my housemates have moved out and we are no longer using our chore wheel, I have experienced first hand the tragedy of commons.

It seems like I unload the dishwasher all the time.  It doesn't really bother me, but I do find it to be an interesting phenomenon that no one does anything when no one has an assigned task.  But why is it that I always seem to cave first?  Maybe because I have too much free time.

I am getting more excited about moving and entering the real world.  It's exciting that I can do whatever I want now.  I've applied to a few more jobs, and I seem to be getting a little warmer.  I also may have found a cycling team that I can race for.  I am also excited to move to Seattle because it is so nice there.  I'm slowly getting beyond the whatdoidonow? phase.

I registered for Cone Azalia tomorrow, but I'm not feeling too excited about it.  We'll see what happens.  Hopefully my dream of breaking my Litespeed fork in half doesn't come true!

Rides of Truth

Riding at home provides a good benchmark for me. Because I learned how to ride on the roads near my house nearly 5 years ago, I have a good idea of how fast I am.

It's really hilly around here because I live on the edge of a valley. Usually I ride down into the valley, up the other side, back down, and then back up. This involves some pretty substantial climbing. Yesterday I only rode down into the valley, along the river, and up a small part of it into a park. I averaged 19, which is by far the fastest I've ever ridden around here. It was also windy, and on the way back, with a tailwind, I held ~250 watts for the whole way. Couldn't do that last year. The end of my ride always consists of a mile long climb. I have a number of choices since there are a lot of streets that go up the valley, but the best one is about 8% grade. I did that faster than ever yesterday and I probably held around 300 watts going up it.

Today I rode this loop we call Rockhaven. I rode down into the valley, up this steep climb, then continued on some rolling but more uphill riding until I got to Rockhaven. Then I cut across the far side of the valley but climbed some more. Then, I turned to fly back down into the valley with some small hills mixed in and finally climbed back up the other side. I rode this faster than ever too. I was also able to climb out of the saddle a lot more on the ~8 mile stretch going up the valley without fatiguing too much. Usually, by the time I get to Rockhaven, I'm pretty tired from all the climbing, but today I didn't feel very fatigued at all. Most importantly, I was able to go down the steepest and longest hills without even touching my brakes. I have definitely never done that before, and although I only hit a max speed of 38.5, I felt confident that I could have gone faster had I been pedaling.

I also had a dream that my Litespeed fork broke in half. It was very sad.

at home

I came home to Cleveland for a few days so that I could move some of my non-essential stuff.

I went through all of my things in Ann Arbor, and I sorted it into piles of things that I really need and things that I might need. Everything else I am getting rid of. I want to fit all of my really need stuff in one car load, which I think is possible. I may have to ship a box or two, but that won't be so bad.

Everyone moved out of my house at school, and it is sad. I didn't have anything else to do today, so I randomly drove home. When I got home, I went to dinner with my parents at this Thai restaurant where all the food was really bland. Tomorrow, my dad is off because it's Wednesday and he takes every Wednesday off. We need to go to the bike shop because I broke my rear Zipp at the Madison crit. It isn't horribly broken, but the carbon cracked a little bit. So sad, but at least they were old. Plus, now Erin is sending me his sweet Reynolds wheels to use at nationals which I will probably break in the crit but whatever.

Riding has been going well. Yesterday I rode 40 miles with Mattison and Matt. They towed me around most of the time because I was really tired from the 85 mile ride. We still averaged 20, though, and we took a nice route home. I haven't ridden on Werkner since I was a little Freshman when Marcus towed me around and made me suffer for what felt like an eternity. It's nice to revisit these areas and see that there are nice roads in Ann Arbor. Too bad I'm finding this out so close to the end.

I took today off, but I will get some nice hill riding in tomorrow and Thursday before I head back to Ann Arbor. Not too much volume, though, because I've had enough of that for this week and nationals isn't too far away. I also think that I sprained my left ankle slightly. It's been hurting for about a week, and it still hurts. It doesn't really hurt while I ride, though. Just when I bend it.

A Michigan Alum?

Yesterday was graduation.  It is strange being completely done with college.  The ceremony was nice on the Diag.  I think it actually made the experience more unique considering that we are the only class to ever graduate on the Diag.  I think my dad was a little bummed that it wasn't in Michigan stadium.  He's seen a lot of graduations at OSU, and I think he was looking forward to seeing one here.  Oh well.

My parents only stayed Friday night.  We went to Ypsilanti to see the famous water tower.  We almost played putt putt in Ypsi, but it was closed. 

After my parents left yesterday, I did some hill repeat intervals.  Today I rode 85 miles with Doug, DP and George.  We averaged ~19 mph, and I felt really good at the end.  We were sprinting down Scio Church.

So...what do I do now?

I finished my last exam yesterday, and I am now officially done with undergrad.  

Also, despite feeling like I really messed up my econ final, I actually got 2 standard deviations above the mean and secured an A in the class (1 SD above is an A).  Now I just have to wait for the rest of my grades which should be As.  Highest distinction? High distinction? What will it be?

I have a few weeks with nothing to really do.  I can start throwing stuff away as I prepare to move across the country.  I can try to find a job where I get to play in the forest all day.  I can try to find a cycling team so I can race my bicycle all day.  Right now, though, I'm really tired, and I think I'll need a little break from bike racing after nationals.  

Regionals took a lot out of me.  Monday I went on a ride with Kristen.  She thinks she is slow, but I assure you, she is not.  Yesterday I didn't ride, and today I did an easy spin.

I decided to venture onto some dirt roads outside Ann Arbor today.  These are really hit or miss, and today was a little bit of both.  I went out Whitmore Lake to Joy.  Joy was much better than it was in the fall when I rode it with John.  Much less gravel and it was actually pretty smooth.  Then I rolled through Dexter to Parker and finally to Liberty.  Liberty was not a nice dirt road.  On some sections, it was so bumpy, and my arms were vibrating so much that they went numb and I felt like I could have easily lost my grip and fallen into a pit of dirt and gravel.  Luckily, this didn't happen, and I made it home 25 miles later with a little more dirt on my bike than there was before.  It was a nice ride because I physically went easy, but it was a mental challenge on the dirt to choose the right lines, stay focused, and not get scared.

Oh Frustration

I think I'm too hard on myself.

The races this weekend were ok.  I got 5th in the road race, we won the TTT, and I got like 15th in the crit.  In the road race, I wasted too much energy on the first lap and my legs were pretty zapped for the second half of the race.  It was also the longest road race I've ever done (50 miles).  I was in a group of 6 with three Indiana riders who wouldn't do any work.  I ended up pulling into the finish and 2 of them passed me.

For the TTT, I was feeling really tired and I thought we were doing horribly because Julie had to keep slowing down for me.  Somehow, though, we won.  This is very surprising to me.

The crit didn't go quite as well.  I'm not used to riding in such big fields, and I got nervous.  It started out fine, I was in the front and everything was great.  Then I slipped back a little bit and couldn't work my way back up.  I eventually got a flat and had to take a free lap.  I tried to ride my bike around to the wheel pit, but my rear flat tire didn't like that idea.  I started to slide out and I couldn't turn any more.  I think I cut some people off because they yelled at me later, but I was pretty close to going down myself.  Also, it was pretty obvious that I had a flat because someone yelled it out to the whole pack so maybe you shouldn't ride behind me when you hear that? 

I've never taken a free lap before, and I just sort of lost my rhythm afterwards.  I was working my way back up to the front, but this girl got a flat right in front of me and cut me off with 1 lap to go and I just couldn't catch back up to the front.  I was feeling great.  My pack riding skills just suck.  In my opinion, this doesn't bode well for my future in bike racing, but we'll see.  

I'm frustrated and disappointed with myself for not being able to improve my pack riding skills.  Now I have 2 more exams and I'll be done with undergrad.  What do I do with my life??

Oh Legs...

Please recover quickly.  

I think I did too much earlier this week.  I still have time to recover, but I have been deeply fatigued for the last few days.  I've been sleeping 9-10 hours a night and still taking tons of naps during the day.  I'm pretty unproductive as far as studying goes.  But no one cares if I end up with a 3.83 or a 3.87 do they?

Tuesday I rode 35 miles easy by myself (averaged 16.5...), and yesterday I intended to do a 20 mile ride, but I turned around early and only did 7.5.  Today will be off and tomorrow I'll do my typical pre-race ride.  Hopefully this will be enough time to recover for Saturday and Sunday.  I'm a little nervous about it, but I should be fine.

It was also announced that 5 teams qualify for nationals.  We're currently ranked 2nd.  Don't blow it, guys!

I was also excited to find out that my team voted me MVP!  I was pretty sure that this wasn't going to happen because sometimes I get the feeling that the guys don't realize that the women's racing is still hard even if the fields are small.  We're still working our butts off!  It was nice to see that they do acknowledge the work we do.  Thanks! It does mean a lot to me. :)

Race It Like the Rent's Due Tonight

I'm beginning to think that I could be pretty good at this whole bike racing thing.

As you can maybe tell, I don't take it very seriously now.  I don't really follow a training plan.  All I did this winter was ride 4 times a week: CTS sprint video, CTS time trial video, CTS criterium video, and an easy longer ride that I usually shortened or sometimes skipped all together.  You can also probably guess that I used to have a CTS coach.  Now all I do is race on the weekends, do some tempo rides during the week, and let the A guys tow me around at ridiculously fast speeds without doing a single bit of work.

I really want to do this more, though, and I think that if I can improve my bike handling/pack riding skills and just ride more, I can do so much better.  I need to get on a good team, or I need to pull out some serious magic at cycling nationals so that someone recognizes me and hands me bags of money.  

I also learned something this term that seems applicable to cycling.  In my motor control class, for our final exam, one of the questions (which she told us about) requires us to analyze a movement.  I wanted to do something cycling related since it requires a lot of things that we learned about.  I decided to talk about reaching for a water bottle.  This involves reach and grap, proprioception without visual guidance, and the maintenance of postural support with the other hand/the rest of the body.

So we learned in class that proprioception is better developed in the non-dominant hand because you don't watch it as much.  But I always grab for my bottle with my dominant hand.  I always figured that it would be better at this sort of thing, but now I'm starting to rethink this idea, especially since I often fish around for awhile trying to find my bottle.  My right hand is stronger, and I could probably stabilize myself better with it.  I also could shift with it if I needed to unlike the left.  Switching front rings usually isn't very helpful in that context.  My left hand is better at reaching and grasping while I'm not looking.  I tried this today with both hands, and the result was inconclusive. 

FTW

I finally got a win!

The crit at OSU this weekend was pretty small, but it was still fun and a good workout.  There were only about 8 or 9 of us in the field, and it broke up pretty quickly.  Julie and I rode with this OSU girl for awhile.  She kept saying that she didn't care if she got 3rd as long as no one else caught us.  I wasn't too concerned about this frankly because I knew that Julie and I could out-sprint anyone in the field, but I also didn't want to fall into any traps like I have in the past.  I did actually threaten to slash her tires during the next race if the lied to us (in a nice way...haha).

Anyway, Julie wasn't about to let this happen.  During one of the primes, she did some great blocking for me, and I started to get away but the OSU girl caught me.  Later, during another prime, Julie did some more blocking for me, and I got away.  I rode the last 5 laps by myself and was able to hang on for the win.  :)  Julie also got 2nd with a flat tire.  It was a slow leak, so she was able to finish without it going completely flat.

I also heard some other good news today, but I won't say anything about it until it's final because I don't want to get my hopes up too much.  I'm happy with how my racing has been going, though, and I think I settled into a really good racing routine.  I also hit the highest wattage I've ever hit today, which is wonderful since I usually don't get as high on the road as the trainer because my sprinting in the drops is usually a little lacking.  It's improving, though.